Latvala rolls out

Early leader Jari-Matti Latvala has had to retire from Rallye Monte Carlo after rolling in the final stage of the day.

Latvala, who took the lead in SS2 after an inspired tyre choice, had been 30.1 seconds up on Sebastien Loeb after SS3. However in SS4, the repeat-run through the 30.48km Burzet - St Martial 2 he went off in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC car. Early reports suggest the incident happened around a third of the way through the test. Latvala and co-driver Miikka Antilla both escaped uninjured, however, with no 'Rally 2' on the Monte (the new name in 2012 for the SupeRally), the crew won't be able to re-start tomorrow.

Latvala's exit hands P1 to Sebastien Loeb, who finishes the day just over a minute up on Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg in second and third respectively.

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I cant say I blame Jari matti, the team have the final say with regards to tyre choice and he was obviously under pressure to maintain his lead on the wrong tyres
I understand he was on 4 studded tyres and was trying to make up time on the icy sections after loosing on the dry asphalt and came a cropper
He is a bit like Vatanen was in his hay day, very fast and a brilliant driver but can also go off, I feel really bad for him, he is probably feeling very embarrassed right now bless him

Why have no.1 & no. 2 drivers anyway ?
Never used to happen - Think McRae & Sainz.
Malcolm should have made them equal.
Hope Petter wins and has a strong start to the season, and makes Malcolm's tactics look ridiculous.